Apparatus for transferring tops and bottoms of cans



PATENTED FEB. 2, 1904.

No. 751,206. v

J. G. & M. 0. REHFUSS. APPARATUS FOR- TRANSFERRING TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF CANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1903. N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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J. G. & M. O. REHFUSS.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF CANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1903.

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PATENTED FEB. 2, 1904.

J. G. & M. O. REHPUSS. APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING TOPS AND BOTTOMS OF CANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1903. N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED STATES Patented February 2, 1904.

PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN G. REHFUSS AND MARTIN O. REHFUSS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO BUREAU CAN AND MANUFACTURING GOM- PANY OF DELAWARE.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING TOPS AND BOTTOIVIS OF CANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,206, dated February 2, 1904.

Application filed April 1'7, 1903- Serial No. 153,138. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J OHN G. Rnnruss and MARTIN O. REH'FUSS, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Transferring Tops and Bottoms of Cans; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in mechanical apparatus for transferring tops and bottoms of cans from locations where the tops and bottoms are stamped from sheets-of tin to positions to be clapped over the ends of body portions of cans as the latter are brought into contact by endless conveyers with the flanges of the tops and bottoms, and in carrying out the present invention it is our purpose to apply the same to the machine for forming the tops and bottoms of cans, for which We have filed application for Letters Patent in the United States, Serial No. 104,870, and to convey the tops and bottoms to chutes, forming a part of an application, Serial No. 97 ,907 for which we have also made application for Letters Patent.

Our invention consists, further, in various details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

Our invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the let ters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this application, and in which Figure 1 is a sectional view through the frame of a can-making machine, showing the operative parts of the present invention in elevation. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the manner in which the tops and bottoms are conveyed from the cutting-dies to and deposited upon an endless conveyer. Fig. 4 is a detail View showing the manner of discharging the top or bottom of a can from an endless conveyer to a chute through which it falls by gravity to locations to be clapped upon the ends of body portions of cans. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the manner of pushing a top or bottom into a chute after it has been punched from a sheet of tin. Fig. 6 is a detail view showingv the relative arrangement of the parts for actuating finger-throwing means to throw a top or a bottom of a can into a chute.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letters, A A designate the stand- I ards of a can-making machine, mounted upon the horizontal channel-irons A,forming a part of the frame. Mounted upon said uprights are the female dies B, which are adapted to cooperate with the male dies C for the purpose of stamping the tops and bottoms from sheets of tin. The dies O, there being one on each side of the frame, one to cut the top and the other the bottom of a can, are mounted upon the reciprocating posts O, which are pivotally connected, by means of pins G with links G which are driven by the cams G which are mounted to rotate with the shaft D. Mounted upon a bracket-arm E, which is fastened to the post O, is a finger E,having a shank portion passing through the end of said arm, and a spring F is secured at one end to said shank portion, and its other end is adapted to bear against said finger. Fastened to the side of the male die is a lug G, having a beveled edge G, and said lug is adapted as the die is driven down to contact with an inclined surface G on the end' of the finger E for the purpose of throwing said finger out of the path of the male die. The normal position of the finger is shown in dotted lines in the drawings, and as the die comes down the beveled surface of the lug coming in contact with the beveled surface of the finger throws the latter out and allows the top or bottom to bestamped from the sheet of tin. As the die rises the spring will cause the finger to be thrown into the mouth of the chute and drive the top or bottom, under the action of the spring, into said chute, and as the chute is inclined the top or bottom being given an impetus as it enters the mouth of the chute will fall by gravity to a position to be transferred to an elevator apparatus.

Mounted upon the standards K, there being two shown in the drawings, is a shaft J, having a gear-wheel J rotating therewith,which is in mesh with a gear J mounted on and rotating with the shaft D. A sprocket-wheel I is mounted to rotate with the shaft J, and mounted upon the bracket-arms L, which are fastened to the upper ends of the uprights K, are the standards N, which support the shaft M, mounted in suitable bearings, and fixed to rotate with said shaft M is a sprocket-wheel 0, about which and the wheel I the sprocketchain 0' runs for conveying motion from the shaft J to the shaft M. Fastcned to each end of the shaft M is a bevelgcar P, which is in mesh with a bevel-gear Q, mounted on a shaft Q, which is journaled in the ends of the bracket-arms L, and the sprocket-wheel Q is also mounted upon and adapted to rotate with the shaft Q.

Mounted upon the arms S, there being two of said arms, which are fastened to the horizontal channel-beams A,'are the stub-shafts S, each of which carries a sprocket-wheel S and a sprocket-chain S travels about said sprocket-wheels S and Q and has horizontal cross-pieces S upon the conveyer. A portion of said endless conveyer or elevator travels in a guideway or casing T, and into said casing opens the exit ends of the chute H at locations indicated in the drawings by letter T. Positioned in the exit end of the chute is an inclined block T provided for the purpose of throwing a top or bottom for a can against the conveyer and to hold the same in position to be engaged by one of the cross-pieces 8* of the conveyer, whereby the top or bottom may be raised from the casing T and deposited therefrom into a chute WV, from which the top or bottom falls by gravity to the chutes V, where they are applied to the body portions of cans. The tops or bottoms leave the elevator or conveyer S at the locations indicated in the drawings by letter X, and at the inner wall of said casing, adjacent to and opposite the inlet ends of the chutes V, are inclined or wedge-shaped blocks V, each of which is positioned in the path of a top or bottom which is being elevated by the endless carrier S so that when the top or bottom comes opposite the inlet ends of the chutes W and one edge of the top or bottom strikes said inclined or wedge-shaped member the top or bottom will be thrown sidewise into the chutes W and as the latter are inclined the tops or bottoms will fall by gravity into the chutes V.

It will be observed that each side of the machine to which my mechanical apparatus for transferring tops and bottoms is attached is equipped with similar mechanism, one being provided for elevating and transferring the top for a can and the other for transferring the bottom of a can, and each is driven from the shaft N, which is geared to the main driving-shaft D in the manner hereinbefore described.

liile we have shown a particular kind of apparatus illustrating our invention, it will be understood that we may make alterations in the detailed construction of the same without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. An apparatus for transferring the tops and bottoms of cans, comprising chutes, means for forcing the top or bottom of the can thereinto as it is stamped from a sheet of tin, an endless conveyer, means for transferring the top or bottom to said conveyor, and means for transferring the top or bottom from the endless conveyer to and depositing the same in a chute, as set forth.

2. An apparatus for transferring the tops and bottoms of cans, comprising a chute, means for automatically feeding the top or bottom of a can as it is punched from a sheet of metal into the chute, an endless conveyer, a casing through which a portion of said conveyer travels, means for delivering a top or bottom from said chute into said easing into a position to be elevated by said endless eonveyer, and means for transferring the top or bottom from the conveyer to a position to be automatically applied to the body portion of a can, as set forth.

3. An apparatus for transferring the top or bottom of a can from cutting-dies to positions to be automatically clamped upon the body portions of the cans, consisting of an inclined chute, means for feeding the top or bottom of a can into the chute, an endless conveyer, a casing through which a portion of said conveyer travels, the lower end of said chute communicating with said casing through an aperture therein, means positioned adjacent to the outlet end of said chute to automatically throw a top or bottom into a position to be caught by the endless conveyer to be elevated in said casing, a gravity-chute opening through said casing near its upper end, and means adjacent to the upper end of the casing and positioned in the path of the top or bottom being elevated and provided for the purpose of transferring a can from the conveyer into said gravity-chute, as set forth.

4:. An apparatus for transferring tops and bottoms of cans from cutting-dies to positions where they are applied to the body portions of cans, comprising a chute, a spring-actuated finger, means for actuating said finger to feed the top or bottom of a can into said chute, an endless conveyer, a casing through which the elevating portion of the conveyer travels, the lower end of said casing communicating with the exit end of said chute, an inclined member adjacent to the end of said chute and adapted to throw a top or bottom of a can from the chute into a position to be engaged by said conveyer, gravity-chutes opening into the upper end of said casing, an inclined member positioned within said casing and in the path of a top or bottom being elevated and so positioned as to automatically throw the top or bottom of a can into said gravity-chute, as set forth.

5. An apparatus for transferring tops and bottoms of cans to positions where they are applied to the body portions of cans, consisting in a chute, a standard of a machine to which one end of said chute is secured, a spring-actuated finger adapted to feed the top or bottom of a can into the adjacent opening of a chute, bracket-arms upon the standards of the frame, sprocket-Wheels carried by said bracket-arms, an endless conveyer traveling about said sprocket-wheels, cross-pieces on said conveyer, a casing through which the elevating portion of said conveyer travels,

. the lower end of said chute opening into said casing adjacent to its lower end and hinged for throwing the top or bottom of a can into said chute, gravity-chutes opening through the wall of the casing, means for transferring the top or bottom of a can from the conveyer into said gravity-chutes, and geared mechanism for driving the endless conveyor, as set forth.

In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses. I JOHN G. REHFUSS.

MARTIN O. REHFUSS. Witnesses:

HENRY PENRINGTON, R. W. RUTHERFORD. 

